The Greatest Showman
IN THIS musical, which is based on the exploits of real-life showman Phineas Taylor Barnum (better known as P.T. Barnum), viewers will be taken on a fun ride that overlooks most facts on this man’s life and also his controversial ‘freak shows’.
Nonetheless, Gracey (obviously influenced by Baz Luhrmann) gives you an entertaining musical that touches on classic themes such as family, and the value of friendship, as well as the importance of accepting people for who they are and not how they look.
The only flaw is that the characters – including Barnum (a charismatic Jackman) – aren’t fleshed out properly, making them very two-dimensional.
Despite that, the lovely sets, pretty good songs (some sound like you heard them before) and the talented cast who rise above the script, more than make up for any of the flaws.
The story begins with a song (this is a musical after all) with Barnum dressed as a ringmaster singing with his circus folk in front of a rapturous audience.
The scene then fades to the past when young Barnum (Ellis Rubin), the son of a poor tailor, falls for Charity (Skylar Dunn), the daughter of a wealthy man.
After living on the streets upon the death of his father, Barnum, through hard work, manages to land a decent job in a shipping company, marries Charity and has two lovely daughters.
Determined to give his family a better life, Barnum tricks a bank into giving him a loan for a wax museum, but it does not work out as planned.
His daughters suggest adding live acts and that is when Barnum starts casting people who are marginalised by society for being different, such as the pint-sized Charles Stratton (Sam Humphrey), and ‘bearded lady’ Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle).
His shows are a hit and Barnum seems content, until he decides to earn the respect of high society by first roping in Phillip Carlyle (Efron), a theatre producer who hails from an upper-class family, as a junior partner.
Carlyle’s connections help give Barnum and his circus some level of respectability, but Barnum wants more.
Seeing an association with Europe’s most famous opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson) as his ticket, he sidelines all other r elationships, costing him
dearly.
Aside from Barnum’s story, the forbidden love story between Carlyle and trapeze artist Anne Wheeler ( Zendaya) is handled subtly, but leaves an impact.
The songs (by La La Land’s Benj Pasek and Justin Paul) are very contemporary sounding, but they will appeal to many.
As a whole, the movie is great fun for the family.